Le Mans: Series preview

Van der Garde on dangerous ground
Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) has been warned: the French are
intent on making his life difficult at Le Mans! Starting with Julien
Jousse (Tech 1 Racing) who has shown himself to be the Dutchman's ...

Van der Garde on dangerous ground

Giedo Van der Garde (P1 Motorsport) has been warned: the French are
intent on making his life difficult at Le Mans! Starting with Julien
Jousse (Tech 1 Racing) who has shown himself to be the Dutchman's most
serious rival since the beginning of the summer. But as always in Formula
Renault 3.5 Series, the list of contenders is not limited to just one or
two names...

Race after race, Giedo Van der Garde has proved that he is the master of
the Formula Renault 3.5 Series. However, the Dutchman is still under
threat from competitors who keep getting stronger. With four wins and a
forty-seven point lead, the P1 Motorsport driver can start to concentrate
on maintaining his advantage. To take the title this weekend, he needs
to leave Le Mans with a 62 point lead over the second-place driver. A
difficult feat, but not an impossible one!

Julien Jousse knows that he must take full advantage of this French round
of the championship if he is to catch up with the leader and keep
everyone guessing until Barcelona's grand finale. On a circuit he is well
acquainted with, the French driver clearly has two objectives: to claim
his first pole position of the season, followed by his first win!

Second place in the championship, currently held by Jousse, is hotly
contested. Fabio Carbone (Ultimate Signature), a race winner on two
occasions, cannot be discounted. If he keeps up his momentum, the
Brazilian could find the nine points he needs to catch Jousse this
weekend. Winners of one race apiece this season, Bertrand Baguette
(International Draco Racing), Salvador Duran (Interwetten.com Racing),
Miguel Molina (Prema Powerteam), Charles Pic (Tech 1 Racing) and Robert
Wickens (Carlin Motorsport) all have the runner-up spot in their sights.

Mikhail Aleshin (Carlin Motorsport), Marco Bonanomi (Red Devil Team
Comtec) and Alvaro Barba (Prema Powerteam) are themselves planning an
ambush. These three drivers have set foot on the podium and have scored a
lot of points, but none has yet managed to win a race. They are all names
to look out for, as winning is the primary objective for these three
young drivers. They have nothing left to lose and are ready to take every
risk necessary. Finally, Alexandre Marsoin (Epsilon Euskadi), who cut his
teeth at Le Mans with La Filipre FFSA, is hoping to make the most of his
inside knowledge to close the gap on the lead group.

In the Team standings, P1 Motorsport has the advantage for the time
being. Just 19 points behind, Tech 1 Racing, is still harbour dreams of
holding on to the title they won in 2007. Meanwhile, the threat from
Prema Powerteam is mounting. Thanks to the success of Miguel Molina at
the Nurburgring, the Italian team is particularly motivated as the
season nears its conclusion. However, the situation in the championship
could change very rapidly as only seventeen points separate Prema
Powerteam in third place from Red Devil Team Comtec in eighth.

The young Spaniard Siso Cunill, who managed the impressive feat of
scoring a point in his first Formula Renault 3.5 Series race is joined at
KTR by a new teammate. Sergey Afanasiev will be racing with the Belgian
team until the end of the season. The Russian is not unknown to the World
Series by Renault, having driven in the 2005 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0
alongside Mikhail Aleshin.